Long Prairie filmmaker organizes festival at drive-in

LONG PRAIRIE – Andrew Ring is reaching out to fellow filmmakers for a festival he's putting together in Long Prairie.

"I've had my films rejected so many times by bigger film festivals," the Long Prairie resident says. "I'm really, really trying to put together something unique."

Ring has tried to organize the festival at the local drive-in, Long Drive-In Theatre, in the past but been hung up; the drive-in's digital conversion makes his idea possible. It also spawned from a discussion at Long Prairie's downtown revitalization group.

An entry for the CraziFlix Film Fest "doesn't have to be any genre-specific film," Ring said. Ideally a film would be two to five minutes, but the festival will accept some films up to, but not exceeding, 30 minutes in length (hence the event's slogan: "Show us the thing you do best in 30 minutes or less.")

Awards will be given to first-, second- and third-place winners.

Here are more guidelines:

• All films must be family friendly (G-rated) for consideration.

• All films should have been completed within the past two years.

• Entry fee is $10 (nonrefundable).

• Multiple entries per filmmaker will be accepted.

• All submissions must be accompanied by an entry form.

• If submissions exceed the allotted time, some films may not be shown.